Manuel Ernesto Rivera, AP, March 27, 2008
Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila was charged Thursday with 19 counts in a campaign finance probe, including conspiracy to violate U.S. federal campaign laws and giving false testimony to the FBI.
The indictment also charged 12 others associated with Acevedo’s Popular Democratic Party as a result of a two-year grand jury investigation, acting U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said.
Acevedo, a superdelegate for the Democratic Party who has pledged to support Sen. Barack Obama, served in Washington as the island’s nonvoting delegate to Congress and was elected governor in 2004 after campaigning on an anti-corruption platform.
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The defendants in Puerto Rico, Washington and the Philadelphia area are accused of conspiring to illegally raise money to pay off Acevedo’s campaign debts from his campaigns in 2000 and 2002 to be the U.S. island territory’s nonvoting member of Congress.
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He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, Rodriguez said. Acevedo said he will turn himself in Friday morning.
At least five others named in the indictment were led in handcuffs into the U.S. federal building in San Juan early Thursday morning.
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The 55-page indictment alleges that Acevedo also personally helped a group of Philadelphia-area businessmen in their efforts to obtain Puerto Rican government contracts after they delivered illegal campaign contributions from their own staff and family members.
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Original article
(Posted on March 27, 2008)
Comments
Puerto Ricans are among the most corrupt people in the western hemisphere.
Socialist policies tend to overlook factors of race.
Wouldnt it be great if the law worked in America’s favor all of the time?
Posted by Colt at 7:51 PM on March 27
Obama wants you to forget about his admitted drug use, his shady political deals, his preacher of twenty years and his comments. Of course, that’s because you are a “typical white person” and presumably - a fool. So he will most likely defend this latest non-white supporter and expect you to see it as a way to “bring folks together.”
Posted by Whiteplight at 8:04 PM on March 27
I know its somewhat off-topic but the U.S. should just give Puerto Rico its independence. I don’t see how the political connection benefits Americans in any way whatsoever.
Posted by at 9:06 PM on March 27
After Martha Stewart’s example, one would think folks would have learned; when the FBI asks you questions, you are not required to answer, but if you do answer, it had better be the truth. Lying to investigators about a misdemeanor is misdemeanor “false reporting”, but lying to investigators who are pursuing a felony case is felony “obstruction of justice.”
Note that Martha Stewart was actually acquitted on the original “insider trading” case she lied to investigators about, but was convicted of the lying.
Posted by Michael C. Scott at 1:04 PM on March 28
“I know its somewhat off-topic but the U.S. should just give Puerto Rico its independence. I don’t see how the political connection benefits Americans in any way whatsoever.”
Posted by at 9:06 PM
— — — — — — — — — — —
Not off-topic at all! Isn’t it strange that in all official discussions, and in debates in the media, the posture that is taken is always about how much MORE can we do for them? It’s assumed that we must hang on to them, no matter what. The other option is never considered.
The question is always should we give them more of this or give them more of that. It’s about how many more concessions do they want before they’re satisfied. What will will it take to make them better off and happy? But it’s never about what would make us better off and happy. It’s never asked whether we should just give them their independence and be done with them!
I’m obviously for the latter. If the marriage is not happy, BOTH parties should be consulted about a break-up. (We, the US citizens, were never even consulted about this marriage in the first place.)
Posted by browser at 8:28 PM on March 30
